Hey kitty girl, new to the drag scene? Some of the lingo used in Ru Paul’s Drag Race and across the globe by queens can be a little confusing at times.
Many of these words already exist in some form in the dictionary but have been zhuzhed up. Others are a kind of fabulous slang, created within the drag community.
The uber exciting news that there will be a season 2 of UK Drag Race premiering in January 2021 has got us all gagging. We can’t wait for what will surely be a sickening show, (and God knows we need a little pick me up after this past year!).
With drag themed items at the core of Shady Gifts, we thought it would be a great idea to share some of the meanings of popular drag terms ahead of the 2nd season.
After all, we love a good ‘Yass queen’ but no need to be a basic bitch, there are so many more sensational words out there!
Where to Start?
Let’s start with the easy ones. Are you a bit of a gossip? If so then ‘spill the tea’ (or T) is a phrase you will want to add to your repertoire.
It means to share the (usually juicy) inside scoop, which isn’t well known (Escandalo!) Although this one technically started outside the drag community, it has received a fabulous makeover after being regularly mentioned on Drag Race.
Spill the tea can be spelt with a singular T, which can also represent telling the ‘truth’. It was also been used in many quotes from queens such as Jasmine Masters with her “no tea, no shade, no pink lemonade”.
Another popular term that is used regularly is ‘shade’ or ‘throwing shade’, this means to talk badly about a person and to act casually about it, it could also be seen as a read (more on that later).
Whether it’s disrespectful, judgemental, something you probably shouldn’t say or just the plain truth! (or ‘t’ okay gurl, look at you learning already!) It’s common practice amongst queens.
It’s been used many times in Ru Paul’s Drag Race with Violet Chachki winning the title of “Shadiest Queen” in Season 7 and “The Shade of it all” is a well-known quote from the fabulous Latrice Royale. (Latrice fan? Check out this cute Latrice inspired Hair grip bag)
The word ‘Shade’ from the drag community is also how we landed on the name Shady Gifts! The more you know…
Tucking
An essential part of a drag queen’s transformation, the art of tucking is a technique that is used to hide the ahem, crotch bulge, as to give the illusion of a woman’s physique.
This is usually done with a hella lot of tape and pushing things ‘back up’ to where they came from. Some queens are insanely good at tucking, like the aptly named ‘Trinity the Tuck’.
Reading
The library is open! When it comes to reading a person, it refers to ‘reading someone like a book’ and sharing, exaggerating and elaborating on them.
It can also be pretty shady. It’s a well-known challenge in Ru Paul’s Drag Race, when, in the tradition of Paris Is Burning, the queens adorn a pair of sunglasses and take it in turns to read one another.
There is also another challenge where the queens dress up puppets to symbolise the drag queen they’re reading but let’s be honest, you can never have too many reading opportunities because reading is what…fundamental!
Eleganza
The word eleganza is an Italian word, which means elegance when translated. Doesn’t everything sound so much fancier in Italian? This then leads to fabulous runway challenges like “Eleganza Extravaganza”. You can also be dripping in eleganza darling!
Death Drop
The ultimate dramatic dance move which involves the dancer falling backwards into a struck pose on the ground. It offers the ultimate wow factor and is often used in a ‘lip sync for your life’ battle to stay in the competition of Ru Paul’s Drag Race.
Not one we will be trying out anytime soon though…
Drag Mother
When a well-experienced queen takes a newbie under her wing and shows them the ropes on how to be a drag queen she is referred to as a ‘Drag Mother’. She teaches them everything they need to know like how to sew, paint their faces and use padding.
They offer support and friendship to their ‘drag daughters’ and are seen as a family. Quite often a drag daughter will take on the family or ‘house’ name of their drag mother like ‘O’Hara’ or ‘House of Edwards’, not to mention you can usually see the family resemblance.
Just look at Plastique Tiara and Alyssa Edwards, and try telling me that’s not the same fabulous blood in their veins.
Hunty
This is a blend of the words ‘honey’ and ‘cunt’ and despite what you might think, it isn’t an offensive word.
Just like in Australia ‘cunt’ is a practically a term of endearment, ‘Hunty’ is most commonly used as a more ramped up version of a best friend, but can also be used to mean an over the top version of sickening (aka fantastic). “Yes queen, you let them have it hunty.” We love it so much that we stuck it on a mug!
We hope this helps you on your journey, but if you find Ru Paul’s Drag Race as addictive as we do, you will be down with the lingo in no time. And, if you are in the need of some awesome drag related merch or gifts, you know where to look. (Here, buy from us at Shady Gifts, okuuuur).